Vegan Asian Orange Tempeh

I know that part of the reason I am vegan is for health reasons, and one of the worst things out there has got to be Chinese takeout, from a health perspective but sometimes you just want to enjoy life a little! However, Chinese takeout is ridiculously high in calories, fat, sodium – and you can never be sure that it’s vegan friendly!

After being a bit worried about trying out a Chinese takeout inspired dish, I decided it was time to stop overthinking and jump right in! In my opinion, one of the best dishes on any good takeout menu is orange chicken. I decided that making a vegan counterpart couldn’t be that hard to make, so I went for it!

This recipe is great because it acts like a perfect marinade, turns into the perfect sauce, and then becomes a complete and wonderful dish! I was actually so confident once I formulated the recipe that I doubled up on the “sauce” so that I could save some in the fridge to enjoy later – it was a great choice! I’ve been using the extra sauce on rice, tofu, even fresh veggies!

If you’ve been following the blog you’ll notice that these are some pretty awesome pics, maybe the best so far if I do say so myself! I’ve been working hard with my camera and my make-shift studio to start getting some wonderful pictures. Hey, maybe I’ll be in a fancy vegan magazine one day – I can dream right!?!

In a medium bowl combine all the sauce ingredients except the arrow root powder and whisk together well.

Cut the tempeh into 20-24 small pieces, about equal size, and place them into the sauce. Place that in the fridge to marinate for about 2 hours. Feel free to marinate the tempeh even longer if you'd like! After you're done marinating - continue to the next steps.

Bring a pot of water to a boil.

This next part requires some multitasking, so read through the recipe first:

Place the soba noodles in a pot of boiling water too cook.

At the same time, place the sauce without the tempeh into a small sauce pan (reserving ¼ cup for the next step), and mix the arrowroot dissolved in water. Cook on medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until thickened.

While you are cooking the noodles and making the sauce, take ¼ cup of the marinade, toss with the marinaded tempeh - cook for about 4-7 minutes until nice and hot!

Drain the soba noodles and run under cool water to stop the cooking.

Per serving, layer ½ the noodles onto a dish then add ½ of the cooked tempeh, and top with your desired amount of orange sauce

Double up the sauce recipe and split half of it out before you marinate - cook that up with your arrowroot and save some sauce in the fridge for other recipes!Not of a fan of tempeh? Try with some tofu and see how it turns out!Add some steamed vegetables like broccoli, water crest, and snap peas for an even more filling dish!

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I hope you enjoyed this recipe – if so comment below so I can hear your thoughts! Are you going to be making this one soon?

Comments

Thanks Zach for this delicious recipe! My whole family loved it. I made it with extra firm tofu and served it over sauteed vegetables and brown rice. The sauce is excellent and I loved that hint of spice with the sriracha.

Was forwarded this recipe by friend on Facebook and tried it this evening for supper. It was gorgeous, we substituted honey for maple syrup but apart from that followed your recipe – thank you, the sauce went so well with our tempeh.

Tried you recipe tonight after preparing Tempeh marinade yesterday evening : me and my boyfriend loved it : tasty, original and very easy to prepare
I put a picture on my Facebook!
Used Udon instead of Soba noodles, and shallot instead of green onion because it’s what I had on hand…